Day care operator charged with child sex abuse

The operator of day care programs at two Seattle elementary schools was charged Monday with four counts of child molestation.

Christopher Eng, 34, who remains free on $100,000 bail, is accused of using his position as owner/operator of Critters Day Care to molest a 10-year-old boy over a two-year period, according to charging papers filed by the King County Prosecutor's Office.

Critters has an agreement with Seattle Public Schools to provide child care before and after classes at Kimball and Beacon Hill elementary schools, according to court records and a letter sent to the parents of students by the schools' principals.

The molestation allegedly began during the 2004-2005 school year, when the boy was a third-grader at Kimball, according to a court filing by Seattle police DetectiveJess Pitts.

In an interview last week with Pitts, the boy said Eng touched his genitals on about 15 occasions over two years. The incidents allegedly occurred both at Eng's South Seattle home and at the schools, according to Pitts.

In addition to the first-degree child molestation charges, the prosecutor's office is accusing Eng of committing a "predatory offense" because Eng is alleged to have molested a student in his role as a day care provider.

If a judge or jury agrees, the minimum sentence Eng faces would be more than doubled -- from 149 months to 300 months, according to prosecutor's office spokesman Dan Donohoe.